Whole 30 Wrap-Up

So my Whole 30 is over, and I promised you guys a wrap-up post of how it went. There were pros and cons to my experience, as I’m sure there were with you. I’d love to hear your experiences, thoughts and feelings about it too, so feel free to leave them in the comments!

First off, let me say that I think the Whole 30 is an amazing program that really teaches you mindful eating – especially if you are eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) of over-processed, un-foods that make you sick rather than nourish you, as food should. The following thoughts are strictly my opinion, and I’m not about sugar coating it, so I’m going to give it to you straight. If you have a different opinion, I invite you to start that conversation in the comments – I’d love to hear it!

I’ll start with what I loved about it. It can’t be said enough that the Whole 30 is awesome in the fact that I ate wholesome foods, and avoided additives and ingredients that could be harming my body. There is something so satisfying in knowing that, not to mention the health benefits that come with it. However, I really hated being accountable to the dogma of the program. Holly over at Holly Would If She Could (great blog, you should check it out!) made a statement in one of her posts during her Whole 30 that really resonated with me. “You’re not the boss of me Whole 30!!!!” That statement says everything I feel about the Whole 30.

I hated that the Whole 30 didn’t celebrate food and how delicious it can be, even while being healthy for you. It felt like punishment to me in many ways. “You better not even TRY to make something delicious out of these ingredients or you are weak and a loser and BAD, BAD, BAD!!!!”

Ok, what they actually say is this “…Do not try to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold. This means no “Paleo-fying” desserts or junk food – no Paleo pancakes, pizza, brownies or ice cream. Trying to replicate junk food with “technically approved” ingredients misses the point of the Whole30 entirely.” It reads the same to me!

That statement assumes that my “old” diet was “unhealthy” (not true) and that the Whole 30 is the only gold standard of healthy eating. That if you can’t cut it, you’re just doomed to horrible health, not to mention a lifetime of shame and ridicule from the superior people that CAN do the Whole 30, and LIKE it.

Now I can appreciate that we should all be embracing whole foods – eating more fruits and veggies, and not living on junk food. But pancakes? Really? What’s the harm in paleo pancakes? And THAT’S where they lost me. Pancakes aren’t evil. Enjoying healthy versions of pancakes on a Saturday morning (or night!), pizza, and even desserts while staying within the guidelines of a plan like the Whole 30 is a best case scenario in my opinion. Because it’s more sustainable long term. It makes you feel good and still have the satisfaction of doing something great for your body.

Nobody should feel guilty about enjoying healthy foods, prepared in a delicious way, whether it’s in the form of a pancake or not. Proving to yourself that you CAN find healthy and delicious alternatives to foods you love, and thought you could never give up, is the KEY to making long term changes in my opinion. It’s what I DO people! That’s why I’ve been able to stay low carb and gluten free since January – and why I’m still going strong.

In fact, the Whole 30 actually made it harder for me, because instead of relishing healthy alternatives to the old foods I used to eat, I felt ashamed of even wanting to eat them. That for me (and I suspect some of you) is dangerous territory – it fosters an unhealthy relationship with food that can derail all of your good intentions and cause you to give up and go back to your old way of eating and shame.

I gutted it out, but I resented that it wasn’t so much about what I should be eating and drinking, as about what I shouldn’t be. And not even for the right reasons – foods that are otherwise healthy but in principle, according to them, I shouldn’t be enjoying while doing the program. Why? Because. They are bad. The end.

I had recipe ideas I wanted to try out that were Whole 30 compliant as far as the ingredients went, but did not adhere to the other rules of self-flagellation and deprivation. It kind of made me mad. Actually it REALLY made me mad! But I didn’t want to lead any of you down the path of Whole 30 mutiny that I was mentally committing, so I remained silent, and my list of recipes to try AFTER the Whole 30 kept growing.

As the month drew to a close, instead of focusing on my improved energy and sense of accomplishment over doing something good for my body, my resentment grew that the Whole 30 WAS the boss of me, and I couldn’t wait for the month to be over.

I counted the days, the hours, practically the minutes.

And when it was over, had I not already made significant changes in my diet in the past year, I might have totally gone off the wagon and spiraled out of control, stuffing sugar and gluten-laden junk into my pie-hole until I undid all of the good I’d done my body during the Whole 30.

In fact it was a close one. I wanted to.

Oh how I WANTED TO!

I literally dreamed of donuts for days. I craved calzone, pizza, biscuits, etc. But I knew that if I caved in, I would not only undo the good that I did to my body during the month of August by doing the Whole 30, but worse, I’d potentially negate all of the progress I’ve made since January of 2012 when I went low carb and gluten free.

I couldn’t let that happen, and that’s what kept me from going off of the rails in a binge. But not everybody has 8 months of change to motivate them.

Had I done the Whole 30 to start, coming off of my old diet, I’d probably have exploded like a coiled spring at the end of it, binged and then felt ashamed. Like every other unsustainable crash diet out there that I’ve tried. I’m not calling the Whole 30 a crash diet – but the restrictive, punishing nature of it feels the same – and to people with food issues, I don’t know that it’s healthy mentally. Just my opinion.

I could have quit – because the Whole 30 isn’t technically the boss of me. But I committed to it, and to say I couldn’t finish would be admitting failure, even though I didn’t believe in all of the principles of the program. And maybe I’m just not ready – maybe the fault is with me, and my rebellious attitude, and not the program itself.

Either way, I’m proud to say I completed the Whole 30. And physically I felt great once the first week of detox was over.

Did it change my life? In some ways, yes.

I did the Whole 30 to see if certain foods were triggers for some of my health issues, and I was able to confirm that MSG, sulfites, and artificial sweeteners make my body very unhappy.

I proved to myself that I can live without chocolate, cheese, and bourbon for a month – and that it wasn’t that hard.

I realized that I can eat fruits and sweet potatoes and still lose weight – I lost 7.5 lbs during the Whole 30 and broke through a plateau that I’d been suffering from by eating MORE carbs.

For all of those things I’m grateful.

I have no regrets about doing the program, and if you really need some serious retraining in making healthy food choices, then you should definitely try it. I mean that wholeheartedly. Would I do it again? It’s hard to say – I would cut out dairy, alcohol, and the other things that aren’t on the program gladly, but I don’t think I can gulp down the kool-aid this time and say no to foods on principle just because they say so. It’s just not me.

So where do I go from here? The Whole 30 was a perfect transition month for me from a keto-style low carb diet to a Paleo (plus occasional dairy) way of eating that I plan to stick with permanently. I will likely keep eating the way I have been on the Whole 30 except for the occasional addition of chocolate, cheese and bourbon – and I’ll enjoy those things without guilt. I’ll happily resume eating cream cheese pancakes, cheesy cauliflower puree, flax parmesan pizza crust and bourbon chocolate truffles. And I’ll keep working towards better health and fitness – while eating the foods I love, and creating new recipes to share with my peeps (that’s you, if you’re wondering!)

Ok, your turn! Do you agree or disagree? How did your month go? Inquiring minds want to know!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

This post (although I know it’s from years ago) echoes my thoughts, especially the past few days! I’m on Day 29 of my first Whole30, and I’ve loved most of it, but the guilt was getting me down yesterday. During this month I’ve avoided ALL kinds of temptations, including foods I love to eat in New York City, at birthday celebrations, baby showers, etc. Instead of celebrating those victories, I’ve been feeling bad because I wanted to eat an extra RX bar after watching everyone else eat cake. Thank you for validating my feelings and putting things into perspective!

Wow, this is one of the most extreme negative reactions I have seen about the Whole 30. Food for thought, balking that strongly at only 30 days of eating healthy whole foods probably means that you needed it more than most.

I find it interesting that so many people took the W30 rules so personally, as if they were being chided or talked down to. If you don’t like the rules find another plan, no one is forcing you to do this.

I was already eating healthy foods so it wasn’t that I cared about giving up a few more things. That being said, this is an old post and I’ve done the Whole 30 many times since that first time. Reading the book It Starts With Food was also helpful to me in seeing the program in a new light. I don’t think it’s for everyone and you are correct, nobody is forcing you to do it. But it’s still my go to when I want to get back on track and clean up my diet further. My feelings at the time were legit though and I don’t apologize for them.

Whole30 caused me bad abdominal cramps that got worse and worse. They started within the first week. I’m always loathe to quit something, but I quit at Day 8 and went to the gastro doctor. I’m now trying two different meds to see if I can get the cramps to stop. I also tried the low FODMAP diet along with the meds-none of it worked. I went back to regular diet and felt much happier, but the cramps are still with me.

I have suspected in the past that my body does best with bread or starch to buffer other things, because I’ve given up bread before and had problems start. I really wish I’d never tried the Whole30 period-I really want these cramps to go away. I’m thinking suddenly having all these vegies may have been the problem-that or suddenly lots of vegies and lots of fat. All I know is something really irritated my intestines, and they’ve yet to recover.

I’ve been fascinated by eating healthy, changing my diet, losing weight, etc. for many, many years.

This experience has cured me of that. I will now eat what sounds soothing for my system and not make anymore drastic changes in my eating.

Thank you for having a place for me to leave my honest comments. I went into this very excited, and it turned out very poorly for me.

Oh, one more thing that I noticed. I felt depressed while eating the Whole30. I’m assuming that it was the sudden lack of whatever’s in bread, dairy, etc. that affects our mood. It was interesting to see that that is really true. How you eat does affect your mood. When we’re sad, there’s a reason we reach for ice cream, not broccoli.

A few bits of info that may help. A little about me, but mostly about cramps and healthy eating.

I’m Vegan and have been vegetarian/vegan for 30+ years. So Paleo just isn’t for me. I do however have a keen interest in reviewing “diets” regardless of there content and look for specific things that repeat, negative or positive. Reading reviews by bloggers such as Mellissa Sevigny is particularly helpful as the candor goes a long way in finding what is really helpful for folks (her blog here is well stated and the comments by folks are thoughtful). We are all different, our bodies respond differently; our genetics, our cultural heritage, our childhood exposure etc. can all effect how we process what we eat.

For your cramps (oh I know how brutal those are – diary allergy) a sudden switch to a much healthier whole food diet can be brutal if you have come from an unhealthy eating life-style. Your body has to make a lot of adjustments and is detoxifying (maybe a little over used but true at this stage). PLEASE DON’T GIVE UP ON BEING HEALTHY. CONSIDER TAKING IT STEP BY STEP. The cramps are there because something is irritating your system (it could be one particular veg or class of veg). SO start over, cut out the worst offenders first – highly processed foods that your body has the hardest time processing and that cause inflammation: sugar – pop, liquor, candy and all the canned goods and meals that have sugar in various forms shoved in – glucose, fructose, dextrose. corn syrup etc; most breads – white, whole-wheat and the typical baked goods; and, anything processed – that includes meat (deli slices). THEN start adding more of the good stuff, while dropping off the foods that have the most inflammatory potential – the Whole30 does offer a fairly solid list, if you are going to eat meat, fish or poultry. As for the meat, fish and poultry consider the source and drop the portion size down (as in quality over quantity – yep sooner you were vegan but better to have healthier, happy, thoughtful eaters than not). See how each addition makes you feel. See how each removal makes feel. Then keeping adding good and removing bad. BUT KEEP AWAY FROM THE PROCESSED, THE SUGAR LADDEN, THE CHEMICAL ADDITIVES (sulphites, tartrazine, MSG, etc). I don’t know if Mellissa has ever reviewed the “Thrive Diet” by Brendan Brazier – yep Plant Based but has good info and doesn’t shut out people moving to a more plant based diet while still eating meat, fish, poultry. One of the key things you’ll find there is the importance of keeping your body alkaline. (I have no affiliation, just research, read and review).

The Whole30 diet may have just turned up something that was already irritating your system and with the sudden changes showed up very quickly. Don’t give up on the Healthy. One of the things many people miss is that for years you can get away with a crappy, unhealthy diet BUT sooner or later it will come back to haunt you.

Hi! I am on day 20 and although I have gone thru the tiredness etc. I am feeling great. I am also quite happy with the structure of Whole 30….it really leaves no room for error. I have been a weight loss counselor for the last 8 years and am very educated on how humans always seem to look for wiggle room. I actually like this Whole 30 and the results so much I plan to extend it for another 30 days. Each of us is different and at a different stage of life so we all will react in a different way. I am glad you succeeded though and learned something along the way.

Thank you for this! I know someone who’s on Whole30, and I was trying to decide whether to try it (struggling with sticking to the low carb this time around). Sounds like it’s worth reading _It Starts With Food_ and working the principles into my diet. But I would definitely be in danger of rebellion against the nitpicking. Or in danger of being a food “rules lawyer” in my household for a while, THEN rebelling. :) Certainly something to watch out for!

I think you missed the point of eliminating foods that are allergy causing and addicting. I did struggle with what to drink since if I have only water to drink I end up drinking very little and becoming dehydrated…used to add stevia flavored packets to my water. I did compromise and drank 50% watered down juice and thankfully I was able to still slay the sugar dragon. My friend drank straight juice and never lost his craving for soda…so I think you have to be careful…there seems to be a fine line. I know in the beginning I got discouraged with the all or have to srart over mentality but later appreciated the strictness realizing that my bending of the “rules” was to drink watered down juice and after 3wks I started using a little stevia with some of my teas. If that is the worst then I am super excited and really appreciate the energy I now have and the 10.5 lbs. I lost! I am now on the next phase and already not handling soy sauce very well. I will keep with a lot of what I learned because I believe I am going to find that I have hidden allergies to a lot of these foods

I’m still very new at reading the book, The Whole30, and starting the challenge. I think the main thing I will stress to interested parties, is that it is not intended to be your future way of eating. It’s a 30-day challenge to eliminate all the foods, additives, etc that have potential to affect our overall health, cleanse our systems for a re-set, and then to methodically reintroduce them, taking note of how each kind of food may or may not affect us adversely, and then perhaps decide to eliminate those altogether. For example, if I find that grains/legumes do not adversely affect my system, I plan to add those back into my regular diet–even dairy has its place. But each of these, as well as sugars, alcohols, additives, etc, all have science-backed research of how they affect our bodies. Dairy might be a problem for you, but not for me, therefore I may add back in my Greek yogurt. This program also does an excellent job of teaching us how to read nutrition labels, and holding us accountable for our choices. Not meant to be a “kill joy”, necessarily. There is much to learn by doing this challenge, that’s for sure, and for that reason, it’s a challenge we all should take, just for the education.

I went on the Whole 30 with a friend . After the 30 days we liked it so much we never stopped and have been on it for three months. We both lost 25 lbs I lost 9 inches off my waist and went down 4 sizes in my clothes. I cannot go back to eating the way I did before as I’m not willing to put weight on. So we both have decided to begin eating the Paleo way as its so similar but we can eat foods that are not restricted like coconut pancakes . I love the whole thirty it has taught me to think before I eat..

I loved your post!! I have done 2 whole30’s in the space of 5 months. The first one I loved and after finishing and introducing some foods back into my diet I didn’t suffer any food guilt (I did have a better understanding of when to stop eating or when I felt satisfied) however I did suffer the physical impacts some food groups had on me ie. stabbing stomach pains after eating legumes or grains or low energy levels and skin breakouts.

I decided after introducing a few too many foods too frequently back into my diet I would complete another whole30 (I did complete 13 days of whole30 in between but was advised by my crossfit coach to take a break so I didn’t feel like I was in food prison). The second whole30 felt like torture and I struggled the whole way through. Although I was seeing benefits physically I couldn’t help but mourn the foods I had been missing and feeling depressed that I would have to eat this way for the rest of my life. I love to go out for dinner or make delicious meals that I can enjoy with my family but whole30 made me feel like I could not have this. Post whole30 I have struggled with my relationship with food ie. having a slice of bread and feeling guilty that I have undone all my hard work and that I am going to put on huge amounts of weight when in reality isn’t having a slice of bread a far better option that having a cheesy pizza or a tub of ice cream? Unfortunately this behaviour causes me to binge – or my version of binging. For this I think whole30 creates a bad relationship with food. I think going so strict and adhering to the rules can be just as detrimental as it can be good.

I would probably try whole30 again but probably need to work on establishing a healthy and maybe somewhat paleo relationship before doing it again.

Thanks again for your post – you have put into words everything I was feeling about the whole30 programs

I know what you mean Kim! I think it has to do with the belief that if eating Whole 30 is the best thing you can do for your body (and experiencing the benefits when you do it) then anytime you aren’t eating Whole 30 there is a level of guilt over everything you put in your mouth all the time. That can be damaging and make you throw in the towel and binge. Because if you’re eating “bad” already why not really enjoy it and go all out? Not really the fault of the program, just an unpleasant side effect for people like us! :/

I’m so glad I came across this post. I’m on day 23 of my whole30 and struggling. Not because I have cravings, in face I have not had a single craving. And not for any other reason than I feel like crap. I have read about carb-flu, etc.etc. and all of that should be out of my system by now. But I’m having stomach aches, cramps, nausea, and have thrown up about every meat and veggie there is, so I don’t even want to eat! I basically hate food at this point in time :( All I want to do is go ahead and start my reintroduction phase. I’m mainly wanting to try out oats and dairy, as these are foods that typically make up a lot of my diet. I’m not craving them, I just need variety because I gag looking at everything else. I know I’m not eating enough calories right now, but it’s because when I eat like I’m told to eat, I get sick. I don’t know what to do! I’m a stubborn person and when I decide to do something, I follow through. But at what expense? Maybe my gut is just still healing. But hey, is a bowl of oatmeal for some variety going to kill me? No, I don’t think so! So…to stay stubborn just to say I completed a whole30, or start my reintroduction phase and possibly start feeling better again? Right now I’m so tired and sick feeling that I can barely walk my dog and I’m not getting any of my schoolwork done. Ugh…

I’m on day 16 of my first whole30. I keep wondering if I am the only person who feels no different. I feel exactly the same as before I started. With the exception of I am now obsessed about food and think about it all the time. I don’t feel satisfied so even when I’m not hungry I think about food and want to eat. I love to cook and bake and enjoy trying new recipes but since whole30 I hate food and having to make meals and eat. I just wish I wouldn’t get hungry so I wouldn’t have to eat. Is this normal? I ate a pretty good diet before and don’t seem to have any allergies to any kind of food so this may have something to do with it. Anyone else feel like this. I feel like a maverick in the realm of whole30.

Thank you for this post. I just started my first round of “Whole 30” with my hubs (day 3 after an epic Thanksgiving binge) and I agree – the list of don’ts rubs me a little wrong but I am willing to give this a try!

I don’t think the diet is bossy. It’s because if you eat any sort of flour or sugar or even dairy substitute your body will continue to crave those foods. You’re trying to break the cycle of cravings, not feed it. It’s about resetting your body. If you sneak in imitation junk foods, then you’re not resetting your body. A coconut flour pancake will affect your body much like a regular pancake, because once you make something into a flour it behaves as a flour, as a grain actually, and that’s going to make your body think it’s still eating grains. It’s the same with Stevia – your taste buds tell your immune system that it’s getting sugar, so your body responds as if it’s been given sugar and raises its insulin level. Your body might also think that almond milk is milk, and that apple juice is soda, because it’s been programmed to create an immune response to sweet drinks or creamy drinks and doesn’t differentiate. Once you deprogram it to prefer whole foods, then it will know what it’s really getting and will not respond with inflammation to healthy foods. And it’s not just because “they said,” it’s because it takes 30 days to reset your body after eliminating inflammatory foods.

I read the Whole30 description more like marketing text. It seems specifically geared toward an audience who have spent their whole lives on the SAD diet. When I read the line about not “paleo-fying” foods or trying to repack old favorites into Whole30 package, I thought about it psychologically. Most of the eliminated food is addictive so Whole30 isn’t just a diet it’s also a detox plan, especially those coming from a SAD diet. It’s sort of like not letting a recovering alcoholic have any non-alcoholic beer. If whatever it is that a person is ingesting now is similar enough to the thing they are addicted to there’s a chance that their brain would release pleasure chemicals (dopamine maybe) which, even though it isn’t the real thing, would keep this person addicted. The psychological part comes in where Whole30 limits choices. Having unlimited choices tends to keep people from making any choice at all. I believe that by restricting choices Whole30 would have a better adherence rate.

I understand how Whole30 could come off implying that it is the best, most perfect diet. But I think of this more like a hospital. You don’t live in a hospital you go there when you’re sick. I never got the impression that Whole30 was ever meant to be longer than 30 days. But I do think you’re right about Whole30 not celebrating food in any way. This, as I see it, is a prescription not a lifestyle. Maybe it’s all a mater of perspective.

That being said, when I read it and imagined myself doing it I felt some major anxiety.

Hi Jason, thanks for commenting! When I embarked on my second Whole 30 I had a whole different attitude. I also read the book It Starts with Food which explained the emotional and mental components so well that I ceased to see it as so restrictive. It’s definitely a commitment, and there are things you will miss, but doing the Whole 30 shouldn’t be a cause for major anxiety. Honest, it’s a great program and I felt so awesome every time I did it. In fact I’m seriously considering (at about 90% right now) taking it on again in July. I always go back to it because there is no denying how amazing I feel physically when I follow the Whole 30 guidelines! I can’t recommend it enough! If you decide to give it a try, let me know what you thought of it! :)

I am starting my 1st whole30 tomorrow and I just want to say I really appreciated this read. I feel like I have a more balanced perspective on it now. We are coming from the whole/nourishing foods camp so it really isn’t a huge change (we don’t buy chips and cookies ever!), although I know it will be a challenge! My biggest thing is I want to cut inflammatory foods out and see if it helps specific health issues I have. So I’m not going to be hard on myself if I eat too much fruit in a day. And I might have a paleo pancake to celebrate my nephews 1st birthday. :) but not everyday!

I HATED the whole30 as well. You described my sentiments exactly. Eating like that is what gives people eating disorders. I quit on day 20 and felt like a ton of bricks were lifted from my back. Just try to eat pretty healthy and be happy. That you can do for a lifetime, not 30 days.

Hi Melissa! Thank you for a honest review of your experience on Whole30.

I would like to address two things that really struck me from your review:

1. Not being allowed to eat “paleo-fied” foods. I get where you’re coming from. I really do. Paleo pancakes are basically either a mashed fruit and eggs, or almond/coconut flour and eggs. Perfect! However, one of the 4 criterias for determining if a food is ok or not, is that it promotes a positive psychological response. As you probably noticed from your experience, a big part of eating come from your psychological response to food. A paleo pancake may be ok based on the ingredients, but if it nourishes your “sugar dragon”, or cravings for baked goods, it fails to promote a healthy psyhocoligal response. It sucks, I know, but what Melissa and Dallas want you to learn from this is that you don’t have to “process” your food in order for the food to taste good. Simple food is also good food.

2. You say that the strict limits (such as not being able to recreate baked goods using healthy ingredients) are not sustainable. And I agree 100%. But we have to remember that the program is called Whole30. Not Whole365. I view Whole30 as a tool, some kind of diagnostic that helps me understand the relation I have to certain food, and what effect certain food have on my body. I am currently on day 21, and so far I have noticed: stable energy throughout the day, better sleep, more energy, faster recovery from workouts, weight loss and 90% DECREASE IN CELLULITE! When I will do my reintroduction, I will be able to see which food caused this and that, and build my own long-term plan, based on my new knowledge of my body and food.

All in all I hope you still learned from your W30 experience and that it has brought you more than frustration!

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I agree with pretty much everything you said here. Congrats on cracking the cellulite code, if you figure out which food it was, I hope you’ll give us an update! Inquiring minds what to know! :) I did learn a lot from my Whole 30 and other than some of the frustrations I mentioned, I felt great on it. So much so that I’m actually kicking the idea around of trying it again in a couple of months! Not sure if I’m ready to fully commit to that, but at the very least I’ll be eliminating dairy again just to see if it was the main reason I felt so much better. Thanks again for your honesty and for sharing your opinions, I really appreciate it and I’m thrilled that you’re having a great Whole 30 experience! :)

I am currently on day 4 and I have decided to use this time to embrace my love of food and try to learn how to cook. I agree that I don’t like the line about paleofying recipes of junk food and I get why they say you need to break those habits. But I wonder if maybe we can “take back the night” and make this more about a celebration of whole food. I am kind of having fun. Last night, I made meatballs for the first time ever AND I made an egg and avocado salad that literally tasted like deviled eggs. This process is teaching me about how much I fear food. I am convinced that I am going to starve every day and I literally use food to depress my moods. I think we make our own experiences and I hope that you can find the positive. Also, when I was reading the whole30 website and the founder was mentioning that she binged on carrots, I kind of had this thought- like how healthy is it for you to deny yourself what you really want? I mean, who really wants to eat a whole bag of carrots? You don’t eat a whole bag of carrots for the love of carrots? Am I right? Thanks for this post, it was really helpful! I am going to try to remember the joy of eating in this and I think that your experience, if anything, has brought value to others!

Thanks so much for your comment Betty! I hope that your Whole 30 is going well and that by now (I’m guessing 12 days in?) that you’re really starting to feel the benefits! It’s a great program and I’m not sorry at all that I did it. In fact, I’m considering doing it again in the near future because I really felt great on it! Let us know how you did when you’re all done!

Melissa, I just joined your blog today. July 21, 2017. I am a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers and at age 70 lost 70 pounds. I am a 5’10” male and went from 218 pounds on Dec. 2014 to 148 pounds on Jan. 2016. Today I weigh 155 and have been under goal of 160 for a year and half. I am going to help my wife (who is 65 and looks fantastic and trim) do the Whole 30 plan. We have been told it may help with her blood pressure and inflammation which is causing nosebleeds and no migraines. I will keep you posted on our progress and our start date is July 25.

For me, the strict month of no sweeteners was really beneficial–coconut cream with blueberries became a lot more delicious after my tastebuds adapted! Along with my physical blood sugar issues, the whole “no treat” thing is something I have mixed feelings about. I have always been a baker, and making healthier cupcakes and ice cream is important to me (and to my friends who benefit from my experiments in the kitchen :)). At the same time, I have serious emotional attachment to the IDEA of treats, to the point that I will eat an almond flour cupcake because I feel like I “deserve” one, not because I really want it right then. To that end, cutting out treats altogether for a while can be helpful. In fact, I have stopped eating “treats” forever–but I still eat grain-free, honey-sweetened cupcakes, I just conceptualize them as “sweets” instead of “treats,” which helps a lot with my emotional reasons for eating to “reward” myself.

You make a good point Sarah and it’s good that you can recognize your possible weak points and work around them! I can acknowledge that taking 30 days to reset yourself from trigger foods can be a good thing, and in that way the Whole 30 is a great way to get to know yourself and what you’re capable of. Congrats on your successful completion of the Whole 30 and thanks for sharing!!

Hi Melissa. THanks for the wrap up! I’m on day 14 of my Whole 30, I’d read about it, but you inspired me to jump in. I am happy to have added fruit and sweet potato into my diet, and I’m losing (I think) I’ve been on an Atkins plateau for nearly ONE YEAR because of days when I just can’t stay on task. Something crazy that has happened to me is that my usually non existent menstrual cycle decided to send Auntie Flow to visit me….and suddenly the scale has gone back up..so hopefully, when she leaves, it’ll go back down, I simply can NOT stay off the scale as they tell you to in the book. My MAIN reason for the WHole30 was to slay the sugar dragon once and for all…my FAVORITE dessert has become sliced ripe banana, toasted almonds and a dollop of coconut milk, SO delicious, and NO SUGAR!? Anyway, kudos to you for sticking to it, and for writing about how you really felt about it!!! I continue to visit your blog on a daily basis, I jsut love your recipes, and I’m counting the days until I can try the Cheesy Chorizo somethingorother!!! Marie in Vermont

Thanks so much Marie and I hope you’re still hanging in there on your Whole 30! Can’t wait to hear back on whether or not it helped you break through your plateau and how much you lost! Keep us posted!

Thanks to you, I did the whole30 during the month of August – I had never even heard of it before. I was not eating a restricted diet at all prior to that (other than just trying to have an overall balanced diet).

I actually loved the all or nothing part of it: no dairy, no sweeteners but fruit, nothing. I have discovered that I am poor at “moderation” and simply saying no to all aspects of certain things was in many ways liberating; ie, I learned I could say no and the world wouldn’t stop turning. However, that being said, I did make paleo pancakes and homemade Lara bars and probably ate more fruit than I should have. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t read the book but only read the brief rules given on the whole9 website… But those things helped me stick to the rest of the whole30 when I think otherwise I would have been very tempted to cheat. (I did try to avoid over-doing it – no chocolate coconut milk ice cream or anything.) So, I definitely agree that you should be able to “indulge” with foods that, according to the plan, are ok.

Since ending my official whole30, I’m mostly still living by it. Since Aug 1st, I’ve lost about 12-13 lbs and I feel great. But I let myself occasionally have non-approved items, like a small bowl of oatmeal, or some cashews and raisins stirred into refrigerated coconut milk (delish!).

Thank you for helping me find something that worked for me. Regardless of whether I stuck to the “dogma” or not, the foods worked and I really have you to thank.

Thanks so much LZ, I’m honored to have played a part in your discovering the Whole 30! I’m actually heading back to eating mostly Whole 30 too. I felt great while I was doing it and then when I started adding back some of my old favorites I was losing energy and just not feeling my best. I’ll be eating mostly Whole 30 and like you occasionally having a treat or two. I’m forever grateful to the Whole 30 for proving to me without a doubt that eliminating certain foods from my diet has a huge impact on how good or bad I feel.

Oh my goodness! What she said! What she said and what she said too! Never wanted to cheat until everything available had some dread component. Now, I did learn a few things as well – sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners had also stalled my weight loss. I am now at my goal weight! Whole 30 was worth that – but I would not recommend it to my friends.I just posted that I love my low carb lifestyle and (once again) sent anyone who would listen right here to be encouraged and given fabulous low carb ideas! I am looking forward to the next few weeks as you bring us new and exciting ideas for healthy, creative and yummy things to eat – umm, no pressure though.

Thanks so much Donna! Congrats on being at your goal weight! Can’t wait until that happens for me too and I’m confident that it will now that I know how to get there! I’ve got lots of great recipes coming soon so stay tuned! And thanks for sharing with your friends! :)

I did have a completely opposite experience than you though. I do see how/why you felt the way you did. Sorry about that, i know how frustrating it can be.

For some reason, maybe the stars all lined up (lol) or it was just the perfect time for God to reveal the things He has and continues to do through the Whole30, but it is really setting me free and empowering me.

Let me say that i am NOT a ‘drink the kool-aid’ type of person, still quite a bit of rebellion in me ;-) i don’t normally ‘fall’ for the latest fad and buy things ‘hook, line and sinker’. But i have to say so many things about this program really resonated with me.

The hard lines drawn i actually found to be beneficial. I didn’t have the same temptations and battles as i would have, i think. I actually felt very empowered by the rules.

I also felt so excited to be loving my body by nourishing it with God made, God given foods that the ‘have nots’ on the list didn’t really bother me.

I would guess i have a long way to go on this journey, as it did not happen overnight adn it is a battle i have been fighting for most of my life, but i feel like i am in a really good place with ‘diet’. I have hope that i have not had in long time too.

I think i too would usually obsess on what i can’t have, but for some reason doing the Whole30 and focusing on healing my body made all the difference. I not only have weight issues, but have had severe adrenal issues for the last few years. For the first time in my life i am eating to heal my body not to lose weight.

I have begun to read the book they wrote and it is all making sense now. I bet i could have a degree in Nutrition by now with all the reading i have done over the years. LOL I don’t know, perhaps i am rambling, but i was truly blessed by it.

I don’t question your experience at all adn feel bad it was like that for you, but i was so shocked because it went so well for me. I do think it is important for people to share the truth of their experience,like you did. because there are others out there with the same struggles, i would guess and now they don’t feel alone.

I so appreciate your website and make your recipes and will continue to do so. I can’t wait to try the pizza crust recipe!!

Balance is what i am seeking for my life and i feel like sometimes i need to swing completely to the opposite direction to come to center again. Does that make sense? I am looking forward to finding that balance with some of the Whole30 guidelines. I think i am going to do it a little longer, as i have health issues to overcome. I have subsribed to your website so i don’t miss anything.

I’m so happy that you are having a great experience with the Whole 30 – I know that so many out there do, and in spite of my problems with a few things, I really did enjoy most of it and felt it was very worthwhile. I think had I read the book and subscribed to their daily emails I may have felt differently about some of the principles. But my plan was to do it strictly free as outlined on their website, with no “extras” so that I wouldn’t have an unfair advantage over others who were going to do it with me, and couldn’t or didn’t want to pay for the extras. I still plan to read their book though, and I see that it just made the bestsellers list which makes me happy because so many people need to read it and understand how possible it is to heal your body from so many maladies just by changing your eating habits! Thanks for taking the time to comment! Keep us posted on your progress with continuing the Whole 30!

Thank you for this post! I’m on Day 5 and I agree with the evil desserts things. If all of the ingredients are approved, who cares what you do with it? You’re not giving into bad habits if you’re choosing cauliflower pizza over flour crust, right? Bleh.I’m liking it so for anyway.. I’ve been used to a 5-day a week Paleo diet (plus cheese!) so the real test will be after this week. I’m going to read more of your posts on how you did :)

Hey Jennifer, hope your Whole 30 is going great! There aren’t a lot of posts on the blog about my experience but I did post pretty regularly on my Facebook page so you can check that out if you want! Keep us posted on how you’re doing!

Thank you for that review! I totally understand your viewpoint! And congrats on losing 7+ pounds! That is fantastic!

I was tempted by the Whole30 but I was already at a low-carb cross-roads and couldn’t bear one more ‘thing’. I had been low carb for a few months (maybe 60-90g)- only losing a tiny bit the first week, then going on vacation and (remaining low carb 99%) gained back what I lost. I tried for about 4-5 days going even lower carb (40-50g) while upping my fats but saw no improvements. FRUSTRATING. Since then I can tell I’ve put on weight but I’m too scurred of the scale.

I have been stuck in the low-carb blog/podcast vortex trying to make sense of the dozens of experts’ contradicting opinions. My head is spinning with all of the info out there. Did you ever go through a phase like this? Ugh!

Hi Deb! If you really want to jump start a low carb plan you probably need to get below 40-50grams per day for at least a couple of weeks. 20g is ideal if you can stand it. Then you become “fat adapted” and you can tolerate more carbs per day while still losing weight. That’s what has worked for me and many others at least. Check out http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/keto which will give you a blueprint for getting started. Make sure you read the FAQ’s and there are many links to reputable sources for information on low carb diets that work and why. There were times after I started that I worried that eating more fat was going to harm me. But I stuck with it and had more energy, kept losing weight steadily, and saw many other health benefits that came with giving up sugar and gluten. I also try to eat healthy fats – lots of avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, etc – but also bacon, cheese, etc though I don’t go nuts with it. I eat a little more carbs than I did, but I continue to lose weight, and if I avoid the foods my body rebels against like wheat and corn then I feel great! BTW my blood pressure went from mid 130’s over high 80’s to usually around 107 over 68. If you want to succeed with low carb why not commit to it for 30 full days like you would have for the Whole 30? Try the 20grams per day and the weight should drop off, and once the detox few days are over you’ll have more energy too! Keep me posted if you try it out! :)

Ha, I was afraid you’d say that (20g!). I guess i have to face the music, but it’s gonna be a struggle. On the one hand I don’t see the point in doing something I can’t maintain for a lifetime, but if it ‘primes’ me for future success, I’m willing to do it. I’ve already lost about 90 pounds over a decade ago and have just eeked away at those last pounds in the last year. Right now I’m really of normal weight but would love to get those last 10 pounds off (pipedream?) so I wonder if my body is just drawing a line in the sand. Anyhoo, thanks so much for the response! I’ll check out the site. Great news about your blood pressure and weight loss. Incidentally, I poked around your blog for your ‘story’ but couldn’t find anything- do you have a proper “about me” section? (I realize that Blogger is a really terrible format for ease of searchability and user-friendliness- I JUST switched my blog to self hosted a couple of months ago after steadfastly refusing to leave Blogger- haha). So if you do have an ‘about me’ and I missed it, forgive me. :-)

Hey Deb! With only 10 pounds left to lose I’d definitely give the 20gs a try! It might shock your body into dropping some immediately which would give you a head start on those last stubborn fat cells! :) No about me yet, I am still working on my move to WordPress and it’s been slow going since I’m super busy right now and haven’t had a lot of time to devote to it in the last month or so. Meeting with a designer soon and hoping to make some progress. It will definitely have an about page though! My “story” regarding low carb is that I started in January of 2012 and I’m down 40 lbs and would like to lose a bit more! Once I reach my goal weight I have no intention of going back to the SAD – it’s going to be low carb and gluten free for me from now on – pretty much Paleo from here on out!

Wow, how cool! Great job on the weight loss. And the diet makeover. Off topic: have you considered going straight to self-hosted? I finally switched to Bluehost, which uses WordPress format, but you have a “dot.com” rather than a “dot.wordpress.dot.com” ya know? It cost a bit of money (WP is free of course), but your blog is such a GREATlow-carb resource, you might want to consider going Rolls Royce! ;=)

Already got my Bluehost account set up because I want to have complete control of the blog! Just trying to figure out how I want it to look and what plug-ins I want to add, etc. Excited about it just don’t have a lot of time to make it happen as quickly as I want to! Story of my life, ha ha! :)

Oh great! So glad to hear it! My ironic situation is that the second I decided to go self-hosted was the second I had nothing more to add to the blogosphere! lol! Oh well hopefully it can still be a good resource or inspiration for some souls out there in the internet!

I did the Whole30 with you, because I’ve been dealing with some issues. I can’t say it was awesome time. I was eating pretty paleo beforehand (completely organic), but cutting out my ability to make snacks sucked. Larabars for emergency only? Every day was an emergency, because two pieces of fruit as a midday snack when I didn’t pack enough protein for lunch sucked.

In the end, I’m proud of myself for doing it (I did make a batch of paleo cookies immediately at the end. Just to rebel). But the side effects they talked about never occurred for me. My skin got worse, I lost less than a pound, my energy level was nonexistent, my grocery bill was out of the world high, and my hormone levels went bonkers.

I think the best thing that occurred because of the Whole30 was finally taking the leap to make green smoothies. I’m in love with green smoothies now. (Limited fruit? HA!)

I had LOTS of green smoothies when I did the Whole 30 and I’m still firmly convinced they are one of the most delicious and efficient ways to get vital nutrients into your body! I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t have good results on the Whole 30 as far as seeing the health benefits. Hopefully you learned more about what does and doesn’t work for you at least! And no matter what we can still say we rocked the Whole 30 – doesn’t matter if we liked it or not! ;)

I read your post while enjoying a bowl of super healthy (according to “my” standards anyway) bread pudding for breakfast and I just thought NO WAY! That’s why I never did take that Whole 30 challenge after all. To give up dairy is one thing, but to not be “allowed” making delicious creations that call for nothing but healthy foods, solely based on the principle that… it’s now allowed? NEVER gonna happen! “Healthifying” food is what I do, too! Creating mouth watering dishes that not only are good for you but also look and taste good. Guess I won’t be giving the challenge a try after all…

Thanks a bunch for sharing your thoughts, Mellissa. This is an awesome post!

Thanks so much Sonia! I feel a little bad that my post discouraged you from trying it. But I know you already eat so healthy that you don’t really need a program like the Whole 30 to teach you how to make good choices! And it would be really sad if you couldn’t create delicious alternative recipes for the rest of us to try – even if it was only for a month! You definitely have some of the best (and most beautiful!) healthy breakfast recipes on your blog!!! :)

I had no idea that Whole30 was so dogmatic, and I find it quite brave of you to be so outspoken about this aspect of it. I suppose the reason I have never considered doing a Whole30 is because my dietary priority was to regain blood sugar control. I was able to achieve this quite fast with LC alone. I do follow many of the Paleo principles out of conviction and interest, however I am not dealing with such issue as weight, chronic inflammation, and other ills. I am firmly in the indulgence camp at the moment. It was hard enough being slapped with a serious disease practically overnight. Given all I have had to give up for the sake of my health, I see no reason why I shouldn’t be spoiling myself with healthy treats made from healthy ingredients, just because they depart from the real food aesthetic and, god forbid, mimic the SAD. It’s human nature to enjoy food and do strange and funky things with it. At least, I think so.

Thanks Anna! I think your viewpoint is healthy and balanced when it comes to eating. Food was made for us to enjoy and I believe that wholeheartedly. Finding ways for each of us to enjoy it in a way that we can be at our best physically is for each of us to decide on our own. But I do appreciate so much the insight that programs like the Whole 30 give us, and the generous way they share that information for free with the rest of us. I’d still recommend it to people, but I’d want them to go into it with their eyes wide open, and after doing an honest assessment of their own goals and personality, to see if it’s right for them!

Thank you for your honesty! I switched from an Atkins diet to a paleo like diet about 6 months ago. I actually prefer saying I eat a real food diet than a paleo diet. I was so afraid to use “real” honey again but when I did switch from sweeteners to honey I started losing weight again. After that I was willing to eat a little more carbs here and there. I still consider myself low carb (Atkins maintenance) and I don’t bake with the amount of honey I see in a lot of paleo recipes simply because I don’t see the need. I saw a lot of blogger friends starting the Whole30 for the month of August and it has been interesting reading all of their views this past week. I looked into the program and realized I already eat whole30 approved ingredients with the exception of honey and the occasional dessert made with peanut butter. I came to the conclusion that I too wanted to celebrate food. Once again thank you for your insight!

Hi Carol, love your profile picture! I know what you mean about fearing adding back carbs like “real” honey! I was VLC for months and did really well for awhile and then had some health problems and was told to add more carbs. I was terrified to add healthy carbs back because I worried it would catapult me back into cravings and weight gain. I’m so grateful to the Whole 30 for proving to me that I can eat certain carbs in moderation and continue to lose weight! I’ll keep eating mostly Whole 30 because it feels good and makes sense – but I’ll do it on my terms now!

I did not even TRY Whole30, after researching it, for just the reasons you mention. I have been eating VLC for over a year and now have excellent blood sugar control. I just didn’t want to risk that control by stressing myself out for a whole month. The program TONE, more than the do’s and don’ts seemed so overbearing/hostile that I just couldn’t make myself begin it. Could I cut down on artificial sweeteners? absolutely!! Could I limit dairy more? yes!! Those are goals that I have set for myself. But if I can’t/don’t I won’t feel like dirt. Thanks for sharing!

Elaine it’s good that you know yourself enough to know it wouldn’t work for you! And like you, I’d rather identify areas for improvement and have at them at my own pace and by my own choice. I think long term success is much more likely for the majority of people that way. But the Whole 30 works for a lot of people and the testimonials are impressive! I’m not sorry I did it, I got what I wanted from it – but from here on in, I’ll be the boss of me and what I choose to eat, thank you very much! :)

I can definitely see your point. You shouldn’t feel ashamed about eating healthy, even if it is in pancake form. The focus seems to be on those that eat the SAD diet and need to go cold turkey and make the physiological separation between sugar, bread, and pancakes before they can move on to make healthy food choices for the long term. I didn’t find it annoying because I had reached a point where I was starting to overindulge in the “healthy treats” and my weight loss was plateauing. The Whole30 was good for me because I was able to break that cycle and get back on track.

Hi Karen, thanks for stopping by! I agree with you that to make real changes you have to let go of certain old thinking and really embrace a new way of eating, and I think that this program definitely does that. It’s possible that since I’ve made so many changes already in the right direction that it felt unnecessarily restrictive to me in those areas of principle. But I can definitely see how it would be necessary for someone just starting out to really “get it.” At the same time, there are so many overweight and/or unhealthy people who want to get a handle on their health that are in a horrible cycle of try/fail/shame/give up, that some of the language/principles of the Whole 30 made me feel like this was just a recipe for some of them to repeat that same process. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it! Or maybe it just reminded me of the struggles I’ve had in the past. I want people who are where I was 9 months ago when I packed up my old “skinny clothes” for our tag sale because I gave up hope that I’d ever get there again to know that you CAN do it and it doesn’t have to be torture! You don’t have to beat yourself up every night for giving in to those nachos at 10pm, or every morning when the scale hasn’t budged even though you were “good” the day before – or God forbid went up! If I can do it, anybody can do it – and you don’t have to white knuckle through it every day of the month without pancakes, pizza and sweets if you don’t want to. Because there are healthy alternatives that you can indulge in guilt free if you just follow a few simple guidelines.

This is the same reason I have decided to do the whole 30. I have been on keto since January 1st and have lost 71lbs (400 to 329). But hardly any of that in the last few months. Although I have not been ‘cheating’ per se by having a pizza of a piece of cake. I have been over indulging in ‘keto ok’ foods. Mio instead of Water. Half a jar of almonds instead of a capful. Way to many pork rinds, or stopping on the way home at the Latin market and getting a fresh Chicharone. Low carb tortillas, Atkins bars, etc. I set out to accomplish 3 things on Whole30.

I am only on day 4, but being on keto for the last 8 months is making the transition a lot easier. This is the first time eliminating carbs for my WIfe so she has a touch of the keto flu, and late night cravings. A guy I work with and his girlfriend started with us and she actually broke down and cried over not havingsomething sweet after dinner tuesday night.

Hey Greg! Congrats on the 71 pounds lost!!! I was on Keto and had stalled pretty hard too – and I was definitely taking liberties so I knew it was my own fault. The Whole 30 jump started my weight loss again which was awesome. And being on Keto for so long you start to get really paranoid about eating carbs! So it was great for me to prove to myself that I could eat some fruit and veg carbs and lose weight as long as I didn’t go crazy with it! Hang in there on the Whole 30 and keep us posted on your progress. Feel free to reach out through Facebook if you and/or your wife need a pep-talk! It’s nice you have your friends to help out too – it definitely gets easier physically after the first week or so. Looking forward to hearing back from you guys as you get through the month!

@Greg Have you come across Jimmy Moore’s livinglavidalowcarb.com site? I know he has significant weight loss starting around the same weight as you and then rebounding. He has since started moderating his protein and eating more fat since too much protein can bring you out of ketosis. Having the extra fat may also help you stay feeling satiated. Also being aware of over snacking is good, you don’t want to fall into the trap of using low net carb snacks and pretty much anything Atkins brand nowadays, just because they may be low carb they are still junk food. I think that is where the strict no substitute rule is useful but in the long term making your own homemade from scratch versions of these foods is much better then settling for premade/processed low carb food.

Wow, great post!!! I love your honesty, both with your readers and yourself :) I did not do Whole30 but I have followed along with your Facebook updates and such. I was curious as to how it would work out for you.

The reason I didn’t (and probably will not) do a Whole30 is similar to the negatives that you stated. I tend to react very poorly, psychologically-speaking, to any kind of hard limit where I have to absolutely deny myself something. Even if I don’t WANT it, knowing that I’m “not allowed” makes me nuts!! I had the same problem when I tried intermittent fasting/Leangains. I could not deal with having a period of time where I couldn’t eat a single scrap of food, not even cucumber or celery stick. It made me mental!!

I read “It Starts With Food” and I really liked it. I’m definitely on board with their way of eating. As far as a Whole30 challenge, I think it’s great for some but it isn’t for everyone. I have noticed that the combination of short term + “extreme” is VERY appealing to lots of people when it comes to diets. In fact it’s the ONLY way to hook certain people. So I like that something like Whole30 exists to perhaps seduce people to this very healthy way of eating, convince them that dietary fat isn’t evil, etc. But for people who already have figured out how to have a long-term, successful, maintainable way of eating, it’s possible that something like Whole30 would make you feel like, “Why the eff am I doing this?!?!”.

As far as “paleo-tized” treats (pizza, pancakes, etc)…I think they keys are 1) ensuring that you’re still ultimately following the meal template and getting sufficient protein + lots of veggies with each meal, and 2) that everyone is honest with themselves — does that one almond flour cookie after dinner satisfy that desire, or does it instead pique your desire for MORE cookies?? Stuff like that. ISWF goes into the “whys” in a lot of detail, I think that if folks are willing to read the whole thing and stay honest with themselves, a quick-and-dirty plan like Whole30 isn’t as necessary. I am implementing a lot of suggestions from their book…as to whether or not I do an actual Whole30 challenge, that remains to be seen :)

Hey Erica! Thanks for taking the time to comment! I agree with a lot of what you said, and I’m very similar in that knowing I can’t have/do something makes me obsess about it more than if I could have it but it was my OWN choice not to. I had the same issue with IF as you – not hungry, but being told I can’t eat anything makes me want to eat NOW! I don’t like someone else making my decisions for me I guess. Can you say control freak? Yeah, maybe a little! ha ha! I have yet to read It Starts With Food but it’s on my list for sure! I think this is a great program, but it’s not for everyone. And you can benefit from applying many of the principles without actually following it to the letter, though I think they would disagree. I have the utmost respect for the message that they are getting out there, and I love that it’s going mainstream which is why I don’t want to discourage anyone from doing it – I just know for myself that certain aspects of the program aren’t compatible with my way of thinking.

I had the same issues with the program as you; specifically, the one-size-fits-all nature of the program, and the assertion that X food is “bad” for everyone. I definitely feel differently after reading the book. For example, after Whole30 they suggest a timeline for re-introducing possible allergens such as dairy — even gluten!! — so that you can assess your tolerance. They also go into a lot more detail about “treats” and the psychological aspect. It’s basically an abridged version of what is discussed in the book, “The End of Overeating”. The End of Overeating goes into a lot more detail but if you don’t have the patience for ~350 pages about conditioned hypereating, “It Starts With Food” gives a nice Cliff’s notes version. And it will certainly resonate with some people more than others. By way of example, for me, even fruit can be kind of triggery. Then my husband can turn down a freshly-baked cinnamon roll no problem just because he’s not hungry! So the importance of avoiding or strictly moderating treats will vary wildly from person to person. I still have one remaining big gripe with Whole30, though: I think it tries to do too much at once, in that it’s a strict elimination diet to uncover allergies/sensitivities, AND it’s supposed to change your eating habits and relationship with food, AND it [possibly] introduces radically-new macronutrient ratios (not as big of a deal if you’re coming from keto). I would rather do one thing at a time…this is a good article about that strategy: bit.ly/RM4dzF . Something like the 21 Day Sugar Detox is more appealing to me for that reason, if I was to do a specific program. Sorry for the novel! I just really enjoyed your post, this is the first time I’ve seen anyone who shares some of my critique of the program!

Thanks for taking the time to comment Erica! I think you hit it right on the head! It’s not that I disagree with the principle of avoiding trigger foods and getting control over your emotional eating, but trying to do EVERYTHING at once and in 30 short days is just so punishing! And I think because the people that need this the most are the most likely to fail, or finish and binge thereby ruining their progress, it just feels like too much. Maybe a Whole 30-30-30 in stages or something where you start by uncovering allergies/sensitivities, then working on macros, and then eliminating trigger foods, etc. would be more likely to be life changing for the average person long term. But to do all of that in 30 days is a serious boot camp mentality and when it’s over – then what? All of that being said, I can’t wait to read the book myself! Thanks for the link too!

This way of eating is very new to me. I stopped eating wheat in January of this year…and have tried to do low carb, but my whole life I have let myself eat junk! I feel like the Whole30 brain washed me in a good way, but I was also glad to see the door on the 30th day close because I really wanted my dairy! I think I will really limit the no-no foods of the Whole30, but I will still occasionally indulge! I love your blog and your recipes…I have made a lot of them! I did lose 13 pounds total, but I was also stuck in a rut of not knowing what to eat besides the same old same old! I am still glad that I made it through the Whole30, and if in the future…like next year(lol)…someone wanted to do The Whole30 with me again…I would.

Hi Lisa! Congrats on finishing the Whole 30 – and 13 lbs is awesome!!!!! It sounds like you got exactly what you needed from it which is why I think it’s a great program. It’s only 30 days, and it definitely reminds us to think about everything we put in our mouth which is a good thing!

I’m on day 26 of Whole 30 and love it ! i started on the 3rd of December out of fear of the holiday season taking hold of my celebrating , red wine drinking, cookie crunch bar brain. I was controled and needed to be. the emotion of the plan has to be eliminated in order to make progress in a way that changes bad habits. the idea is to take the less optimal foods out completely so, that introduction after 30 days can be done in a thoughtful and deliberate manner. It’s valuable and brilliant. I was a caterer years agos so, food is my passion and talent. I catered a Christmas party for 100 and didn’t taste one thing. Didn’t miss it or care that i couldn’t have Scotch shortbread or crab dip. It was amazing how the whole 30 grabbed me.I even made Cajun Gumbo and fried oysters on the 23rd of Dec.for my family gathering. I ate the shrimp out the pot but, didn’t touch the roux based soup. Avocados and nuts were my best friend that night.the most wonderful part of this holiday season is that i have boundless energy. My friends and family members have complained about feeling sick from all the eggnog and sweets, heavy sauces etc. Recovery from cooking for 100 was no big deal.I usually complain the day after an event but, had no problem bouncing back. At 53, shopping , food prep for days and the actual delivery and set of an event is exhausting. so, my take on the Whole 30 is that my life is different now. We’ll see how I transition into society again. I usually cook with fresh food but, this has taught me so much more about true health and a new approach to eating. I won’t go back to diet cokes and a glass or 2 of red wine every night. I won’t use fake sugar but, will probably use cream in my coffee. THe idea is that my family history of heart disease and diabetes is the curse that i have to try my best to avoid. if i have to stay on this plan for 60 – 90 days and take breaks occasionally, then that’s what I’ll do. Beyond that , it has to become a lifestyle. Friends and family members have commented on my weight loss so, that in itself is the best motivator. Happy New Year!!!

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[…] recipe are all technically Whole 30 approved, the idea of eating paleo desserts is not (you can read my rant about that in my Whole 30 wrap up post if you haven’t already). Anyway, so as not to lead […]

[…] In fact, I went into this (my second) Whole 30 with a completely different mindset than the last time. I read It Starts With Food before this Whole 30, and it was amazing and definitely opened my […]

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My name is Mellissa Sevigny, and I use my culinary powers for good here at IBIH by creating delicious and satisfying low carb & keto recipes. If you’re looking to lose weight, feel amazing, AND eat some of the best food you’ve ever tasted – you’ve come to the right place. Welcome! Dig deeper →